Baltimore shake-up 'is working'

FORMER FTSE 100 highflyer Baltimore Technologies sought to win back some investor support today by assuring the market that its restructuring programme was starting to bear fruit. It said in a trading statement that next month's interim results would show revenues in line with market expectations of between £21.5m to £22.5m.

Net cash stood at £23m at 30 June, much of which stemmed from the £20m raised through the sale of assets such as its Australian and Japanese arms. Baltimore's costs have also been cut as a result of slashing staff numbers from 1,400 to 400 in the past year.

The restructuring plan - devised by new chief executive Bijan Khezri - is aimed at enabling Baltimore to focus on its security software business.

Analysts are forecasting a full-year pre-tax loss of about £30m on revenue of £42m. The company, which expects to break-even in the first quarter of next year, is now worth £30m compared with £5.1bn at the peak of the technology boom.